Slam Dunk: Glorious Moments
by xiaoj
Summary: AU, some sort of a sequel to my first fic 'Lost and Found'. Slight hinting of Shonen-Ai, between Sakuragi and Fujima. Features OC, and focus on after Akagi & gang left Shohoku. Can Miyagi lead the school's team to Nationals again, this time around? WIP
1. Chapter 1

Title: Glorious Moments 

Fandom: Slam Dunk

Genre: General/Comedy/Slight Romance

Rating: PG-13

Type: Sequel to 'Lost & Found'. Multi-part; Chapter 1?

Time-line: After Nationals in the series, when the third years graduate...

Summary: After Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui left the team -- what would happened to the Shohoku Basketball Club? Will Miyagi be able to lead them to Nationals again? What of the other schools? What happened to Shoyo, Ryonan, and Kainan?

Author's notes: Hi everyone, I'm back with a new fic on Slam Dunk. I am in the process of re-watching Slam Dunk for the 3rd time, and this idea just sort of came to me ... So Everyone, please do enjoy!

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk.

---

Chapter 1 -- New Beginning!

---

The air in the gym of Shohoku was stifling, the new captain of Shohoku basketball team, Miyagi Ryota, was perspiring. Practise was hard, but he could not afford to slack now. Following the retirement of Kogure, Akagi and Mitsui -- Shohoku was at a lack of players. With Sakuragi Hanamichi still in the hospital recovering from the injury, and Rukawa still away at the 'All - Japan team'; it was up to him, alone to train the rest of the team members.

Today is the last day that the third years was going to be around; after all, it was their graduation day. Miyagi was really glad that the third years had dropped by to pay them a visit. After their loss in the Nationals, all the third years were busy preparing for their leaving examinations and thus, had no time for practise.

"Hey, how's it going for you? Miyagi-Captain?" Kogure asked.

Miyagi looked over to the ex-vice captain and shrugged. "Honestly, I had no idea how we are going to cope with you guys leaving... With Sakuragi still in hospital and Rukawa away, I really had no idea how to train a new team from scratch with the current members that still remains. "

"Well... I'm sure, there will be a way to resolve this problem. Maybe, there might be some talents among those newcomers?" Kogure suggested.

"I certainly hope so... otherwise, we might not be able to make it to Nationals, this year. Ever since we defeated Shoyo last year, we had been classified as a 'seed' team -- but if we were to lose simply to others, this time around..." Miyagi trailed off, not daring to think so far ahead.

"I'm sure that you would be able to find someone from the newcomers, tomorrow, when they joined the practise." Kogure assured Miyagi with a smile on his face.

---

The following day, Miyagi had the newcomers lined up in a straight line and introduced themselves to the seniors, and reveal their positions on the court. Sad to say, they were still lacking a center player -- none of the members had the height of 190 or above. The tallest among those newcomers was, Mikami Shuuhei, with a height of 184 cm.

That was when the doors to the gym opened, and entered a tall body with dark coloured hair. Upon closer inspection, Miyagi realized that it was Rukawa Kaede. Before Miyagi could said anything in response to Rukawa's appearance, another person with red hair stepped into the gym. Miyagi could barely registered the red hair before he found himself nearly tackled down by the said person.

"Sakuragi?" Ayako, the basketball team manager, asked.

"Yeah?" Sakuragi responded, as he let go of Miyagi -- whom was nearly strangled by his tight grip.

"When did you come back?"

"Oh... the doctor released me from the hospital, last weekend." Sakuragi replied, non-chalantly.

"Last weekend? And you decide to make an appearance only now?" the manager, Ayako frowned.

Grinning wryly, Sakuragi replied simply that he wanted some time to re-adjust to his body before coming back to practise. To which, Ayako merely nodded in silent agreement.

"And your back? Is it alright now? Can you still play basketball?" Miyagi gushed out all in one breath, knowing that they might had a chance of winning if Sakuragi was back on the team for good.

As if sensing Miyagi's anxiousness, Sakuragi smirked. "Honestly, Ryo-chin ... do you think that the doctor would release me before I fully recover?"

"So does that means...?" Miyagi prompted.

Sakuragi nodded, as Miyagi let out the breath that he had been holding in. Everyone stepped forward and slapped Sakuragi on the back, welcoming him back on the team -- everyone but Rukawa Kaede. The rest of the first-years merely looked on in bewilderment.

---

That was when Miyagi noticed something strange about Sakuragi, he then called out to Rukawa and Sakuragi -- drawing their attention. He get the two to stand side by side, and instantly, he realized what was 'off'.

"Sakuragi, have you grown taller?" Miyagi asked, knowing for a fact that Rukawa's height was still the same as the time he joined the team.

"Huh? Yeah, I think so... I should be about 195 now..." Sakuragi replied absently, he did not really care of his height. That did not matters to him; likes it does to others.

That was when Miyagi noticed that the first years was at a loss of what to do, looks like he had neglected the newcomers with Rukawa and Sakuragi's return to the team.

Calling out to the attention of the first years, Miyagi introduced both Sakuragi and Rukawa to the newcomers. That was when they noticed Sakuragi eyeing a certain first year member strangely, but the first year appeared to be ignoring Sakuragi on purpose. Deciding to leave the matter alone for now, Miyagi called for practise to start -- he needed to see if Sakuragi's skills had gotten worst during the time whereby the former had been hospitalized.

Miyagi suggested for them to practise one-on-one, just to see if Sakuragi had the ability to defend against the attacker. Before Miyagi could even named himself as Sakuragi's opponent, Sakuragi had went on ahead to challenge one of the first year, much to the surprise of Miyagi. He would have been expecting Sakuragi to challenge Rukawa, but to go against a first year -- was something he did not expect from the red-head.

The first year was more than willing to oblige, after all, it seems as if it was a natural routine to him. Miyagi had yet to catch all of the first years' names, but he was sure that he could remember it, soon.

"Renji, do your best and come at me..." Sakuragi said, looking solemn all of a sudden.

"Well, if that's what you want ... that's what you will get." The first year replied.

---

After a while, it was apparent to everyone that Sakuragi knew that first year. In fact, they seemed to know one another inside-out, since there's hardly any communication between them. Finally, unable to bear with the mysterious feeling anymore -- Miyagi called out to the both of them for their attention.

Upon noticing Miyagi's frustration, Sakuragi simply pointed a finger at the first year and stated. "This guy here, was called Renji. I know him pretty well, although, I still cannot fathom why he choose to come here instead of going over to Shoyo."

"Huh? Shoyo? Why would you want him to go Shoyo?" Yasuda, a fellow senior asked.

Sakuragi blinked, before his eyes widen with realization. "What! Don't tell me you people had no idea of his identity?" Sakuragi exclaimed, his eyes reflecting the shock and disbelief.

Miyagi frowned, and questioned Sakuragi on his strange reaction. Whereas Sakuragi merely shook his head in disbelief, and introduced the first year, once again. Jabbing a finger at Renji, whom was trying his best to ignore Sakuragi and the others -- by practising his dribbling.

"Fujima Renji is the name of that first year... do you people understand now? That was why I said I cannot fathom why he choose to come here, instead of going to Shoyo." Sakuragi stated, throwing a mock glare in Renji's direction.

Everyone was stunned by the news, even Rukawa -- even though, his reaction was nowhere as big as Miyagi. Sakuragi watched as Miyagi's jaw slacked, before turning wild eyes onto Renji. "Good Gracious, that little guy down there was the younger brother of Fujima Kenji, coach of Shoyo's team?"

Fujima Renji looked up at his captain, and shrugged. "So? I am not my brother, there's no need to fear me... Besides, I'm not even playing your position."

To which, Sakuragi merely rolled his eyes and muttered 'bull-shit' under his breath. Turning to Miyagi, Sakuragi told the former to leave Renji alone.

"That guy over there choose to come over here, because of stress... He simply cannot stand having Kenji as both his coach and brother." Sakuragi claimed, much to Renji's annoyance.

However, Renji did not retaliate to Sakuragi's assumption; since he did choose to come here because of his reluctance to play under Kenji. That, was simply one of the reason, another reason was that -- he did not want to be on the same team as his twin, Shinji.

---

"Heh? Fujima Kenji's younger brother? I did not even know this in prior... How is it possible for them to slip through my research..." The voice of Aida Hikoichi, a fellow Ryonan player, rang out in the Shohoku gym -- catching everyone's attention.

Everyone blinked once, then twice -- before everyone started talking at once. Sakuragi sighed and called out to Hikoichi asking the latter's reason for being here at Shohoku. To which, Hikoichi merely replied that Coach Taoka had wanted to drop by and pay a visit to Coach Anzai -- he simply tagged along. With that said, Hikoichi then headed towards the newcomers of Shohoku basketball team and proceed to survey them from top to bottom.

The newcomers appeared baffled, while the current members of Shohoku merely rolled their eyes in response. However, Renji merely smiled in response before answering Hikoichi's previous question -- which everyone had forgotten about until he spoke up.

"Are you Hikoichi from Ryonan?" Renji asked.

"Huh? Yeah, but who are you?" Hikoichi frowned, since he had only heard snippets of conversation between the Shohoku members and had not met Renji, himself -- he had no idea how Fujima Kenji's brother looks like.

Renji smiled, "I am Renji, the younger brother of Fujima Kenji. To answer your query, the reason why you had not being able to find out anything about me in prior was simply because I was away -- in America."

"Oh... so you're away in America..." Hikoichi started jotting down in his notebook, and was about to ask more questions when Coach Taoka and Anzai came through the gym doors.

"Hikoichi, our business here are done. We are leaving." Coach Taoka called out to Hikoichi, whom in turn bade everyone farewell and left with the Ryonan Coach.

Meanwhile, Coach Anzai called for the members to gather around. He then revealed that Coach Taoka had approached him in an attempt to fix a practise match between their teams -- as an effort to see how far their new players could do; going up against one another. Anzai confessed that he had agreed to the idea and the date of the practise match had been fixed, it would be one week from now.

Turning to Sakuragi and Miyagi, Anzai told Miyagi to start training Sakuragi from basics again -- in case, Sakuragi forgotten all the basic moves. Miyagi nodded in agreement to Anzai's words, while Sakuragi merely shrugged.

---

to be continued

Date started: 6 August 2006

Date ended: 7 August 2006


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Glorious Moments

Fandom: Slam Dunk

Genre: General/Comedy/Slight Romance

Rating: PG-13

Type: Sequel to 'Lost & Found'. Multi-part; Chapter 2/?

Time-line: After Nationals in the series, when the third years graduate...

Summary: After Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui left the team - what would happened to the Shohoku Basketball Club? Will Miyagi be able to lead them to Nationals again? What of the other schools? What happened to Shoyo, Ryonan, and Kainan?

Author's notes: Sorry for the long delay, I've finally decided to restart this fic... but it will be at a slower pace than my other three fics on hand. Settings might have been changed quite a bit... since this first chapter was written in 2006 and it's now 2013. I will try to keep the characters in their unique personality though.

Disclaimer: **No, I do not own Slam Dunk.**

Original Character Introduction: Shohoku 1st years…official members of the team

Name: Mikami Shuuhei

Age: 16 years old

Traits: Right-handed player

Jersey No: 9

Position: Centre Forward

Strengths: Rebound, Lay-up, Jump Shots.

Height: 184cm

Fav. Brand: Reebok

Name: Fujima Renji, younger brother of Fujima Kenji and twin of Fujima Shinji

Age: 16 years old

Traits: Left-handed player

Jersey No: 10

Position: All-rounder, except unsuitable for centre position on high-men team

Strength: 3 pointer shoot, agility and fast reflexes, Circus Shot.

Height: 176cm

Preferred Brand: Nike

Name: Yamazaki Katsuo

Age: 16 years old

Traits: Right-handed player

Jersey No: 11

Position: Shooting Guard

Strength: 3 pointer shoot, and dribbling/passing speed.

Height: 178cm

Preferred Brand: Adidas

Chapter 2 – The Fujima Twins…

Due to the lack of potential players in Shohoku Basketball Team, the first-years generally gets a higher chance at performing on the court as compared to the infamous Kainan High, Ryonan High as well as Shoyo High. Seeing as the practice match with Ryonan High was coming up soon, the newly promoted Captain – Miyagi Ryota, immediately started planning out formation plays for the new Shohoku team.

There are quite a number of new recruits for Shohoku this particular year, and most of these newcomers are attracted over by the presence of Rukawa Kaede and Sakuragi Hanamichi. Miyagi Ryota had the first years does a self-introduction during their first practice session for the new term, and from there separated out the newbie and experienced players. The newbie would be training together under his girlfriend, the team's manager – Ayako's guidance for basics. Sakuragi would be joining them for the first three days of practice under coach Anzai's request for him to re-familiarize his basic techniques.

There are a total of fifteen new recruits this year, and added in the original remaining players following the departing of the third years seniors. There are now a total of twenty members on the team, quite a vast improvement as compared to the year before whereby only Rukawa and Sakuragi had persevered and stayed till the end of the orientation period. Among these fifteen new recruits, three of them were juniors of Rukawa and Ayako. They came here with the intention to play on the same team with their idol – the no. 1 rookie in the high school basketball realm.

These three teenagers have been playing on the same team back in their junior high for some period of time now and therefore had very good relationship and understanding of one another's playing style. Among the trio, the most talented player was Yamazaki Katsuo who now played the position of shooting guard, previously a position held by the graduated Mitsui Hisashi.

"Care to share what's on your mind?" The familiar sound of Yasuda Yasuharu, a current senior and classmate of Ryota Miyagi piped up from behind startling the newly promoted captain from his thoughts.

"I'm just thinking about the line-up to use for the impending practice match with Ryonan…With Akagi's departure; the centre position has been left hanging. I do know that Sakuragi had mentioned that he doesn't mind playing centre until we have a better choice, but we cannot neglect his forward ability either." The point-guard cum captain of Shohoku team sighed as he stared down at the line-up members' list with a frown.

"True, but at this point of time… we do not have anyone else who can play the centre position aside from Sakuragi. Since he had already mentioned that he could play centre, why not just stick to it for the time-being? I mean, he's the only guy among us that has the height of 190 and above… and he has matured quite a bit following the end of the National Tournaments. Shouldn't you have more faith in him?" Yasuda reasoned.

"Well…that's true, although he's still quite a joke to be having around but I have to agree he has matured quite a bit in his thinking. At least, he don't go around provoking Rukawa anymore… although, they are still quite competitive with one another." Miyagi said wryly thinking back on this morning's practice session whereby Sakuragi decided to challenge Rukawa on another one-on-one match.

The bell sounded signaling the start of the morning classes, the duos dropped the topic of discussion and diverted their attention back to the class lecture. However, seeing as Miyagi Ryota was not exactly a star student at all… if anything, he was among those that often required to stay back after class for remedial lessons… he found himself zoning out on the lectures soon after. Yasuda, on the other hand, paid extra attention to the classroom activities.

In Class 2-5 along the second year classrooms, Mito Yohei was sneaking glances at his buddy Sakuragi Hanamichi in awe.

'Looks like being involved with that student coach of Shoyo did have a good effect on Sakuragi…' Mito Yohei was thinking to himself, as he observed how attentive his friend was during lessons time.

The Sakuragi Gundai used to be delinquents prowling the streets looking for troubles, but ever since their leader figure – Sakuragi Hanamichi joined the Shohoku Basketball Team, things are never the same again. True, they still hang around arcades regularly but they no longer goes around causing troubles for the locals anymore. In fact, these days they would often be seen loitering about near the gym waiting for Sakuragi to emerge after his practice sessions or they would do some part-time jobs in the neighborhood in order to save up money for the outbound trips to wherever Shohoku Basketball Team matches led them to.

With a sigh, Mito Yohei directed his attention back to the teacher in front of the class droning on about some revolution history of Japan.

After Classes ended for the day, it was time for the practices in the school's gym again. The Shohoku Team have morning practice on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and afternoon practices on the same days, as well as a full day training on Saturdays. The members of the team would generally get their Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays free for them-selves.

Practices for weekday's afternoon start from 3pm and ends at 5pm, occasionally around 6pm. Members of the team were chatting enthusiastically among one another while they waited for the arrival of the coach, it would seem that today would be the day whereby the new team jerseys would be ready for collection. With the departure of Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui, the members' jerseys would need to be re-assigned with a new number. For instances, there was no doubt that the new captain for the team Miyagi would be taking over the no. 4 jersey as that is typically the number being assigned to the Captain of every team.

Yasuda was made Vice-Captain by Kogure before he left, so he was re-assigned with the no.5 jersey instead of his usual '6'. His friend, another senior member who was also a reserve player was given his old jersey number with his promotion. Next there was Rukawa Kaede who was given the no. 7 jersey and Sakuragi with no.8. The rest of the jerseys from no.9 to no.14 were all given out to the first year students who had been either put on the list of reserve players or that were considered part of the starter members.

No. 9 was given to Mikami Shuuhei who had been made a center forward, while No.10 was given ironically enough to Fujima Kenji's little brother – Renji. No.11 was given to Yamazaki Katsuo, a junior from Rukawa's old school who was now playing Mitsui's former position as a shooting guard and his other two friends were both assigned with jersey number 12 and 13, respectively. The newbie, of course, were not being bestowed with their own jerseys at this point of time as they probably still have a long way to go before they could be deemed suitable to own a jersey of their own.

After practice session was over for the day, the team was in the midst of packing things up when they noticed the arrival of a fellow Shoyo High student who looked exactly like their newest member on the team.

"Renji, hurry up… someone's here to fetch you." Sakuragi hollered towards the first years' direction, causing the sixteen year old to throw the redhead a look of annoyance before shifting his glance towards the door of the gym.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Fujima Renji frowned as he directed his words to his mirror image, saved the difference in hair-style and school uniforms.

"We have a dinner party to head off to… I'm here to fetch you in case you forgot all about it." The Fujima Renji look-alike boy responded.

"Eto…don't mind me asking this, but can anyone do a introduction here?" Ayako, the team manager piped up eyeing the two teens in curiosity.

"That is Fujima Shinji, Renji's twin brother." Sakuragi supplied helpfully.

"So who is the older twin…?" Ayako asked again, her eyes sparkling with gossiping glint.

"…Me…!" The two boys proclaimed at the same time, before glaring daggers and huffing at one another in annoyance.

"…" Sakuragi Hanamichi felt himself sweat-dropping the twins' antics, and inwardly pity his boy-friend for having to deal with it on daily basis now that Renji's back from the states.

"Shinji, I thought your brother's supposed to be the one coming over to pick Renji up…what brought on the sudden change in plans?" Sakuragi hurried to interrupt before the twins' starts their typical argument in public; he supposed he could now understand why Kenji said nothing when Renji decided to join Shohoku months ago.

"Ah…when I left Shoyo's gym, he was still lecturing the new Captain about some careless mistakes the former has made on the court, I believe. He told me to come over and get Renji over to the party and that he will meet us directly over there, instead." The twin whom chooses to gel up his hair told Sakuragi, before prompting his twin to hurry up and get ready for departure for the second time in the five minutes that passed.

"I see, Renji…I think you'd better leave first. I'll do the clean up for you, this time around. Don't keep your brother waiting, and by that I don't mean Shinji." Sakuragi said, snatching the mop out from the younger teen's hands and throws the former duffle bag towards the waiting Shinji before shooing the Fujima twins out of the place.

"What's up with them?" Miyagi questioned, somehow he found the twins' interaction rather too tensed for his liking.

"Those two has been competing with one another since young, and it doesn't helps with the way their parents tends to compare them to one another and using Kenji's achievements as a benchmarking point. Shinji's good at practically everything, but Renji was more of an athletic type of students. His academic results are okay enough, but definitely not up to Shinji or Kenji's standard… although, I believed his results still could easily get him a position in Shoyo High but that would means more hectic schoolwork for him which he wouldn't want to endure. I think that's one of the reasons why he picked Shohoku out of the dozen of schools available in Kanagawa prefecture…" Sakuragi commented dryly, before focusing his full attention on the task of cleaning up the court.

Date started: 18/2/2013

Date completed: 19/2/2013

P.S: edited a slight bit when I spotted a mistake a while ago in the position assigned to the new players. Please review okay? Not much actions on Sakuragi yet, as I am still developing the Fujima twins' issue.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Glorious Moments

Fandom: Slam Dunk

Genre: General/Comedy/Slight Romance/Friendship

Rating: T

Time-line: After Nationals in the series, when the third years graduate...

Summary: After Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui left the team - what would happen to the Shohoku Basketball Club? Will Miyagi be able to lead them to Nationals again? What of the other schools? What happened to Shoyo, Ryonan, and Kainan?

Author's notes: I'll try to have weekly update… if possible…

Disclaimer: **No, I do not own Slam Dunk.**

Chapter 3 – A peek into Ryonan's Team Practices

Aida Hikoichi stood in line waiting for his turn to have his go at practicing jump shots, along with the other bench members of the Ryonan High Basketball Team. The starters were using the other side of the court practicing for the impending practice match to occur this coming weekend under the lead of their new Captain, Sendoh Akira. The first years, on the other hand, are practicing their dribbling by the side of the gym under the guidance of Coach Taoka.

"Hikoichi…!" The sudden bark of his name caused the shortest member of the team to jump in fright, as he turned wide alarming eyes towards the owner of the voice.

"Eh…Yes, Coach Taoka?" Aida Hikoichi started with some slight hesitancy on his part.

"Come over here!" Moichi Taoka instructed.

"…Okay…" Hikoichi sighed, while his fellow team mates patted him on the shoulders wishing him luck.

"Sendoh, you people too! Come over here this instant." The coach of Ryonan Basketball Team barked out to his starter members practicing on the other side of the court.

Once the members of the team gathered around him, Moichi Taoka took a minute of silence to gather his wits together before addressing the team members.

"I'm sure that you people are aware of the impending practice match with Shohoku, right?" The coach started his eyes boring into each and every member's staring back at him with attentiveness.

Sendoh and his fellow team-mates exchanged a common glance between them, before nodding to their coach's words. Neither of them bothers to question the coach sudden desire to bring up the issue, since they never managed to figure out how their coach's mind works.

"The thing is… with Uozumi and Ikeda absence, we are kind of lacking in our defense formation and also someone who could handle the center position."

"…Yes, we get that so far…but this is something we could work out in time, isn't it?" Sendoh took it upon himself to voice his doubts across, since neither of his team-mates dared to interrupt their coach in mid-speech aside from himself. Well, Fukuda too…probably since his relationship with the coach has always been tensed. However, Fukuda was hardly going to say anything if he failed to get what the coach was trying to imply.

"I have with me two new recruits here, that I would like to try them out on the court using the practice match this coming weekend against Shohoku." Moichi Taoka finally said, as he gestured to the two first years he had standing by his side.

"'Ah-ha…! So that's his reason for stopping our practices…' The newly promoted Vice-Captain, Koshino Hiroaki, shooting guard thought inwardly as he observed the two first year members discreetly.

"Okay… so who do you want to substitute off the team?" Catching on quickly, Sendoh Akira prompted thinking that perhaps the coach wanted to let the first years start joining them in their routine practice.

"…Actually, I was more prone to the idea of conducting a mini-game between the new members against the senior members." Coach Taoka eventually said.

"Huh…? But it will be a suicide attempt to let these first year faced off the starter members, isn't that so?" Hikoichi piped up.

"Hikoichi, do me a favor and shut up. Will you?!" Coach Taoka said as he hits the loudmouth on their team with his fist up hand, before continuing his speech.

"I want to split up the starters for this game, and also to make a change in the players' position so as to explore further possibility on the court. Sendoh, Koshino, Hikoichi on Team A, while Uekusa, Fukuda on Team B."

Team A was assigned with red numbered vest, while Team B took the yellow vest. For this game, Sendoh would be playing center, while Koshino does his usual shooting guard position, Hikoichi was asked to show his training results in the fields of playing point guard. The other two members of Team A included one of the first year who was previously standing by the side of the coach – Ishigaki Masashi and Satou Makoto (2nd Year – Reserve Member).

Team B consists of Uekusa, the point guard and Fukuda, the forward. The other three members were made up of Matsuyama Hideaki (1st year), Horiuchi Satoshi (2nd Year – Reserve member) and Kiriyama Masaya (1st Year).

At one glance, one would think Team B to be at a disadvantage but nobody would be able to tell for certain until the game begins. Last year, Moichi Taoka focused his main energy and attention on training up the team for the Inter-high tournament thinking that it would be the year for them to emerge out as the winner of the Kanagawa prefecture. However, that dream of his was dashed when Shohoku brings out that Sakuragi Hanamichi. The sheer thought of that unbelievable redhead of the rival team still gives the man a very big headache at times.

Shaking his head to rid himself of these unwanted thoughts, Moichi Taoka gave the short-listed members for the mini-game to do some quick warm up before whistling into his whistle for the game to start.

"Sendoh, what do you reckon the coach intends to do by splitting us up like this?" Koshino queried in a whispering tone of voice to his friend, trying to avoid gaining the coach attention on them.

"I think the coach is trying to put together a new team, and by splitting us up and changing our position in this game… he was trying to explore our dear juniors' capabilities and abilities by stretching them to their maximum." Sendoh Akira responded, before turning his attention onto the nervous wreck junior – Aida Hikoichi.

"Hikoichi, relax… and take deep breaths. Yes, correct… in that manner. Now you listen to me, okay? Although, I'm playing center position in this game but it won't stop me from being offensive in my plays. You have trained hard for the position, and your basics are strong… so long you managed to keep your mind clear of doubts, you'll be fine. Besides, this is only an internal practice match… it would be alright for you to make mistakes. The coach can be scary at times, but he won't do anything but scold. We, the seniors, are here to guide you… so just stay calm, alright?" Sendoh told the panicking teen who was still reeling from their coach latest orders.

Aida Hikoichi swallowed nervously, before nodding to Sendoh Akira's words. Despite having been on the team for the past year or so, this is the first time ever…Hikoichi was actually playing in a game. Over the past one year, he was mostly seen by the sidelines taking notes and researching on opponents' information.

One year ago, he had joined Ryonan Basketball Team with his passion for the sports itself and hoping to play his desired position as a forward because that was what he played back in his Junior High years of studies. However, his hopes were dashed during the 'orientation' week whereby the coach had told him outright and blatantly that with his standard of play back then… if he were to stick to the idea of being a forward, then he could jolly well forgo his chance to play in an actual game throughout his high school years.

Although, the coach's words had been rather blunt, but Hikoichi understood and took no offences to it. That little issue was kind of apparent to him, after he had seen how well his seniors were playing on the court during the training days of the team in school. Coupled with the fact that there were others in his year, with good results in the Junior High Basketball Realm also ended up on the benches as mere reserve players for the starters… Among them included Satou Makoto, who would be playing today in Team A as well as Horiuchi Satoshi who is playing for Team B.

Unlike Hikoichi who enrolled in Ryonan High due to his idolization of Sendoh Akira back in his Junior High days, and of course a direct results of his sister's fanatic craze of the former. Satou Makoto and Horiuchi Satoshi were of different cases as compared to him, they were both approached by Coach Taoka, himself during that same year after Rukawa Kaede rejected the offer to come over to Ryonan. Apparently, Horiuchi Satoshi played on the same team as Rukawa Kaede while Satou Makoto was on the opposition team during the finals of the Junior High Basketball Tournament of the Kanagawa Prefecture.

Anyway, despite their acceptance to join Ryonan…neither of them had a chance to play in an actual game until last year during Inter-high Tournament during the first round of the Best Four Team matches. Hikoichi can't remember the name of their opponents' school, aside for the fact that it was in that game whereby Ryonan defeated the opponent with an incredibly high score of 117 against 78.

Anyway it was during that game, towards the last ten minutes or so, Coach Taoka had substitute the whole team down with reserve players to give their opponent a deadly crush impact to their morale. That was when reserve players like Satou and Horiuchi were sends out to play against opponent in an actual game, to gain experience. At least, that was what Coach Taoka had said when Hikoichi questioned his reason behind the decision to substitute the whole team nearing the end of the game.

Poaching is a technique often adopted by the coach, Moichi Taoka of Ryonan Basketball Team. Every year without fail, the said man would go and find time to watch Junior High Basketball Matches with the intention to source for suitable candidates for Ryonan High Basketball Team which is under his lead. Last year, it was the same case despite being busy training the team for the Inter-High Tournament.

There are quite a number of players who caught the man's eyes, but only three of them agreed to join Ryonan. The other players opted to join Shoyo High and Kainan High instead, and among them also included one Yamazaki Katsuo who opted to join Shohoku with his other two friends. Apparently, those three always worked in trio and refuses to be separated from one another. That was the ultimate reason that got Moichi Taoka to give up on the idea of getting Yamazaki in. Of course, Shohoku being a school that had the major problem of having a weak bench team would takes in the trio without hassle.

The way Moichi Taoka sees it, Yamazaki has great potential to shine in future with proper training. However, that two friends of his only have mediocre playing standards and would only served to hinder his progress as time progresses on. That was the reason why he did not want to take in all three of them, and since Yamazaki was too stubborn… he figured he would have to just let the boy go. Either way, he still managed to secure Ishigaki Masashi and Matsuyama Hideaki. Hopefully, he would have better luck this year.

The mini-game progresses on uneventfully, and once Aida Hikoichi got over his nervousness…his play gradually stabled itself during the game. During which period of time, Coach Taoka pause the game to do some changes to the members' position before re-starting the game again. It continues on for several times, until the time for dismissal draws near. The practices officially ended when the time struck 6pm in the evening, and then the first year were entrusted with the task to clean up the place while the seniors left for the club room to get changed.

"Hikoichi, are you leaving yet?"

In the club room of Ryonan Basketball Club, Hikoichi was busy packing up his things when he heard Uekusa calling out for his attention.

"I think so… why do you ask, Uekusa-sempai?"

"Nothing, just want to have a chat with you. That's all." The humble third year student said in response.

"A chat…? About what…?" Hikoichi asked in a quizzical manner.

"Your feelings after today's practice perhaps? You have tried playing point guard for Team A and Team B today, respectively. How do you feel during these practices?" Uekusa prompted; his tone casual.

"It was nice…I guess, I can't really describe the feeling but it's also kind of hard. I mean the position…being a point guard was not an easy feat to manage. There are so many things to look out for on the court, and the sight on court and off court is so different that I think I screwed up a couple of times during the game. It's a wonder that Koshino-sempai did not throw me dirty looks throughout the game, and strangely enough Fukuda-Sempai seems kind of accommodating today as well." Hikoichi responded, a little sheepish as he scratched the back of his head with a silly look on his face.

Uekusa laughed aloud at Hikoichi's words, and said. "Well, they are taking it slow today… since it's your first time on the court. However, do take note that neither of them was saints and their temper would eventually get the upper hand of things if you made the same mistakes again, tomorrow."

Hikoichi gulped nervously at Uekusa's words, and the former took one look at the shell-shocked look on his face before bursting into laughter again. Hikoichi had no idea how he managed to make it home in one piece, but he definitely knew he was ashen pale by the time he entered the bathroom for his evening shower. That very night, Hikoichi ended up having a 'nightmare' of being forced to eat a whole cart of lemons due to the number of mistakes he had made in a game under his Captain's orders.

Date started: 20/2/2013

Date completed: 21/2/2013

P.S: How is this chapter faring? Good, Bad…? Next chapter, I'll have Fujima Kenji popping in for a show of face, and it's time for the Shohoku-Ryonan practice match :D


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Glorious Moments

Fandom: Slam Dunk

Genre: General/Comedy/Slight Romance/Friendship

Rating: T

Time-line: After Nationals in the series, when the third years graduate...

Summary: After Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui left the team - what would happen to the Shohoku Basketball Club? Will Miyagi be able to lead them to Nationals again? What of the other schools? What happened to Shoyo, Ryonan, and Kainan?

Author's notes: Take note of the slight Shonen-Ai warning in this fic, since 'Lost and Found' was a shonen-ai fic.

**Reply to Guest's Review**: Thank you for commenting :D Yes, the nightmare was funny right? The idea just came to me when I recall Sendoh's fancied eating Lemons before a match… and he seems so good-natured that he probably won't scold Hikoichi about messing up big time on the court, but to let him off without punishments seems a little too good to be true too. I then figured that the best way for him to dish out punishments with a smile was to let Hikoichi eat a whole cart of lemons *evil grin* XD

P.S: Just to let everyone knows… I had revised my old Slam Dunk Fic 'Lost and Found' completely. I went and re-read it days ago, and found it not exactly understandable with that kind of bad sentence structuring in there and hence I take it upon myself to revamp the whole thing. Chapter 9 especially had been re-written completely and is now a brand new chapter. I had officially, tie that fic to this one so that this fic of mine could be acting as a sequel since I was going to use certain details from that plot of mine.

Disclaimer: **No, I do not own Slam Dunk.**

Now for Ryonan's Original Characters' Introduction:

Name: Matsuyama Hideaki

Age: 16, 1st Year

Height: 195cm

Position: Center

Jersey No: 10

Traits: Right-handed

Skills: Dunking, Jump Shots, Set Shots (Penalty Shot)

Previous Achievements: Top five best players in Junior High Basketball Tournament

Name: Ishigaki Masashi

Age: 15, going on 16

Height: 178cm

Position: Small Forward

Jersey No: 11

Traits: Right Handed

Skills: Defense Skills, fast and stealth-like steals.

Name: Kiriyama Masaya

Age: 16

Height: 180cm

Position: Shooting Guard, Point Guard

Jersey No: 12

Traits: Right Handed

Skills: Jump Shots, Circus Shots in Zone Play. 3 Point shoots by luring opponents' to foul.

Name: Horiuchi Satoshi

Age: 17, 2nd year

Height: 183cm

Position: Forward, Bench Member

Jersey No: 8

Debut Match: Inter-High Best Four Tournaments, last ten minutes against Ryonan's 1st opponent.

Name: Satou Makoto

Age: 17, 2nd year

Height: 185cm

Position: Forward

Jersey No: 9

Debut Match: Inter-High Best Four Tournaments, last ten minutes against Ryonan's 1st opponent.

Name: Aida Hikoichi

Age: 17, 2nd year

Height: 165cm

Position: Point Guard, Bench Member

Jersey No: 13

For References, below is the original Ryonan's Players New Jersey No:

Sendoh Akira – Captain, No. 4

Koshino Hiroaki – Vice Captain, No. 5

Uekusa – Point Guard, No. 6

Fukuda Kicchou – Power Forward, No. 7

Chapter 4 – The practice match approaches!

On the morning of Saturday Morning, whereby the practice match between Shohoku High and Ryonan High Basketball Team was scheduled to take place…the players of both teams were equally stressed out by the impending match. Granted, it was nothing but a mere practice match but still it means a lot to the players involved.

For Aida Hikoichi of Ryonan, it was his first high school match on the courts with him being directly involved in the game and whereas for the starter members, it was a challenge to their team-play. Their coach was no doubt going to break up the team into different formation for the match to come in time against their rival team – Shohoku High Basketball Team.

For Shohoku team members, it was more of a matter of getting accustomed to the new rules and regulations adopted by the national basketball council for High school Tournament rather than team-play issue. Despite the fact that the practice match was practically set only a week after the freshman joined them for regular practice, Shohoku team does not have that much of a problem of adapting to new players' style of play.

They were after all already accustomed to the idea of reacting on impromptu situation due to Sakuragi Hanamichi's playing style. Moreover, they usually tend to react accordingly as to the situation taking place on the court. So no, their problem does not lies in the fields of team-play…it was the new basketball rules and regulations sets in place for the Inter-High this year that worries them more.

Apparently, after a delay of two years since the NBA and FIBA rules change in regulations, the Japan High School National Basketball Council had decided to adopt the new changes in rules as well. With effect from this year onward, these rules and regulations will also start applying for Japan Basketball Tournament regardless of whether it was of professionalism or Inter-schools tournaments, so long it fell under the category of an official match – the rules will applies.

So now instead of the initial thirty seconds shot clock system, it was cut down to only twenty-four seconds for the offensive party to launch an attack on the opposition team. The possession of the ball for each individual was also changed to eight seconds instead of the initial ten seconds. Even the time sessions involved in the match itself was also amended; initially it was a twenty minutes first half and second half match with an interval of twenty minutes in between.

Recently, the council had decided to split the match into the arrangement of ten minutes each for a total of four sessions, with intervals of five minutes in between and also a half-time of ten minutes break between the first and second half of the game. Each team is now entitled to a total of four time-out calls, limited to once per session for each team.

In order to get everyone on the team to get themselves accustomed to the new rules sets into place, coach Anzai had taken the liberty to arrange a series of practice matches with his acquaintances' teams. It seems like the newly implemented rules also worries quite a number of the other schools' coaches, and therefore these schools had all came together as a whole and agree on the idea of having practice matches before the basketball season for Inter-high comes around the corner.

Of course, schools like Kainan University Affiliated High School would not required to organize such practices since their regular and reserved team members were more than qualified and of standards to play against one another internally on regular basis to get them used to the new system. Heck, even Ryonan could handle that as they have a very strong and stable bench member's team…In fact, this particular practice match was not scheduled by Coach Anzai rather was brought up by the coach of Ryonan High itself with motives of their own.

Either way, for one Fujima Renji…he could hardly care less about the motives of Ryonan High coach for suggesting this particular practice match. Shohoku needs the extra practice session to get use to the new rules, and of course, the first years needs as much practice as possible. While he had no idea what Coach Anzai had in mind particularly for this match, and who will be included in the list of starter members…Fujima Renji knew all the first years would get their chance of being on the court at least once in this particular match. Since it was apparent that the coach does not wants Sakuragi to over-strain himself having just recovered from that back injury of his…

The sixteen year old was rudely jarred from his thoughts when he heard his elder brother, the ex-captain of Shoyo High Basketball Team patting him on the shoulders with a morning greeting.

"Morning…" Throwing back a lazy drawl, Renji continues his deed of buttering up his breakfast toast all the while choosing to ignore his twin sibling seated opposite of him at the dining table. Their mother was currently bustling around in the kitchen packing lunch boxes for them all, while their father was reading the morning news and sipping away at his routine dose of morning caffeine.

"How are you feeling today? Are you excited for the impending match?" The now nineteen year old brunet teen questioned his younger brother, as he pour himself a glass of milk from the carton on the dining table before reaching for his own set of breakfast toast.

"Alright, I guess…" Fujima Renji answered lazily, the new rules and regulations sets in place doesn't really bothers him as much as compared to his seniors in school.

He had after all spent his Junior High years in the states and therefore had already experiences the rules first hand back then. He played basketball briefly in the US, since his focus was mainly on the academic aspects back then and also partly because he did not want to be on the same team as his twin as people would tends to compare them when they were standing together. He disliked the idea of it and hence avoided playing at most if not all of the time, only standing in to play on the team when his twin was unavailable for the match.

Still, bench member or not – it does not changes the fact that he had played under the new rules and regulations sets in place by the NBA and FIBA before and therefore he was more or less accustomed to the idea of it now that the rules had been sets into place by the Japan Basketball Society too.

"Well…either way I would still have to say this, good luck for your match." Fujima Kenji said in response.

"Thanks, so I take it as you won't be popping over to watch the match?" Renji inquired with mild curiosity lurking in his eyes.

"No, I have got to attend a tutorial session in school today. However, I'll still be informed of your performance for the match later on in the evening since I'm meeting Hana for dinner." Fujima Kenji told his younger brother firmly and with a stern look on his features.

Fujima Kenji, the ex-Captain of the Shoyo High Basketball Team was still acting as a coach to his fellow juniors of high school despite his hectic school work in his university life. Shoyo High, being a school well-known for its' academic achievements often urged its students to concentrate on academic factor rather than the school's co-curriculum program. Therefore, the school was rather reluctant to fork out money for sports related clubs and to seek a proper employment of coaches for the school's sports team.

Knowing this, Fujima Kenji had opted to continue training his juniors instead of hoping for the best that the school will find the team a coach in his absence. The nineteen year old was now in his first year of studies in a local university situated within Kanagawa district, despite the fact that with his grades he could easily gained himself a place in those prestigious schools out there in the country. He enrolled himself into the University of Kanagawa, Japan, majoring in Business Management mainly because he found this faculty to be the less taxing on him should he continues his coaching position on Shoyo High Basketball Team.

"…Okay, fine." Renji refrained himself from rolling his eyes at his elder brother's words, he was more than willing to bet that the only reason behind his elder brother caving in to his request to NOT attend Shoyo but Shohoku was because of one Sakuragi Hanamichi's presence in there.

Speaking of Sakuragi Hanamichi, Renji had to fight against the urge to snort aloud whenever he thought of how his elder brother and that redhead senior of his addressed one another. Sakuragi often addressed his elder brother by 'Ken-chan', while his brother returned the deal by calling the redhead 'Hana'.

Well, in a way Renji figured that his brother had thought the nickname of 'Ken-chan' was far more ideal than 'The Reserve One' which Sakuragi had uttered throughout the match Shohoku played against Shoyo last year during the Best Eight Matches in Inter-High Basketball Tournament of the Kanagawa Prefecture. Then again, at that point of time, neither of them had fully recognized one another from their childhood memories yet.

Alternatively, it could also be a 'couple' thing between them…and Renji had tried to disregard the sheer image of his elder brother and Sakuragi Hanamichi being together in an intimate manner. The last time he had accidentally stumbled upon the sight of them kissing was mentally scarring for him enough; while he was not a homophobe and had nothing against same gender relationship…he was not exactly a fan of it either.

'Good heavens…why am I the only one to witness that particular sight? Now I ended up being roped in to keep things under cover for them and to prevent our parents from finding things out…' Fujima Renji allowed himself to groan inwardly upon the sheer notion of the true extent of his elder brother's relationship with that redhead senior of his.

A slap on the back of his head startled the sixteen year old back into reality, turning around he found Sakuragi Hanamichi sliding into the empty seat next to him at the dining table and started reaching for some toast from the plate placed in the center of the dining table.

"Good morning." Sakuragi Hanamichi greeted, and received a cheerful greeting back from Miyako Fujima and a nod of acknowledgement from Kosuke Fujima in response.

It has been a year since he moved into the Fujima residence, staying under the same roof as his boyfriend, Fujima Kenji. Two months since his release from the local hospital after a nearly six months stay in it to recover from his injury of his back during the game in the National Inter-High Basketball Tournament.

The thought of his hospitalization fees being paid and sponsored by the Fujima's family still made him squirm uncomfortably at times, and so he had repaid the goodwill by studying hard and working towards the goal of attaining scholarship so that they do not have to pay for his education fees as well.

It was hard but luckily he had a brilliant and intelligent boyfriend who is more than willing to assist him in that factor. The return of the younger Fujima twins some months ago had taken his presence in their family home quite well too, and the fact that they get along rather well with him was simply a bonus.

"Hana, I know your coach probably had mentioned a couple of times already but still…do take care of yourself and DO NOT STRAIN YOUR BACK under all circumstances! Do you get me?!" Fujima Kenji stressed on the issue, eyeing the redhead with a glint of steel in his eyes.

Sakuragi Hanamichi gulped nervously upon being subjected to one of his boyfriend serious and penetrating type of gaze, and nodded promptly without any hesitation on his part. During that six months stay in the hospital whereby his boyfriend always drops by for a visit regardless of how busy Shoyo's schoolwork had been, and had actually yelled at him for his idiotic act of saving the ball to the extent of injuring himself still caused the redhead to break out in cold sweat.

One thing about Fujima Kenji was that the former never yelled, no matter how upsetting the whole situation had been but the always cool and collected Fujima Kenji had yelled at him when he was in the hospital receiving medical treatment for his back. It just goes to show how upset the former was with his acts of landing himself in the hospital, and during that six months stay in hospital there was nothing else that he could do saved from studying and more studying.

His boyfriend had actually forced him to revise through all his schoolwork and reinforcing it by quizzing him on them all before he finally sat for his year end papers in the hospital, again an arrangement specially made by the Fujima couples with Shohoku's academic department. All of these works done just to ensure he would not have to repeat a year of the high school education due to his missing out on the final papers for the year.

When the clock struck 8am in the morning, both Fujima Renji and Sakuragi Hanamichi made a move to stand and leaving the dining area. They had a morning practice to head off for, before the whole team made their move over to Ryonan High for their scheduled practice match that is to take place later on at 11am in the morning.

Date started: 27/2/2013

Date completed: 28/2/2013

P.S: I hope the information inserted up there in the chapter itself was clear for every one of you to get, if not…kindly go and read my old fic 'Lost and Found'. In there, you will understand just how exactly did Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi got together…and how they ended up living under the same roof.

P.P.S: The change of rules and regulations in official basketball matches was in the year 2000, but to twist it in order to suit my fic…please kindly disregard the fact that Slam Dunk was a manga/anime produced in 1995.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Glorious Moments

Fandom: Slam Dunk

Genre: General/Comedy/Slight Romance/Friendship

Rating: T

Time-line: After Nationals in the series, when the third years graduate...

Summary: After Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui left the team - what would happen to the Shohoku Basketball Club? Will Miyagi be able to lead them to Nationals again? What of the other schools? What happened to Shoyo, Ryonan, and Kainan?

Author's notes: I'll try to have weekly update… if possible…

Disclaimer: **No, I do not own Slam Dunk.**

Chapter 5 – Practice Match: Ryonan VS Shohoku!

The time now was 10.30am, another thirty more minutes before the start of the practice match between Ryonan and Shohoku. Both teams were now in the school gym of Ryonan High huddled close together with their respective team-mates, doing some last minute briefing pertaining to the match to come in time.

"Haruko-chan, can you please pass me the scorebook?" Ayako, the team manager of Shohoku, said.

"Eh…? Ah, sure…there you go, Ayako-san." Haruko Akagi, the new team manager of Shohoku replied, handing over the said book to the curly-haired senior of hers.

"Thank you." Ayako responded to the younger girl with a smile, before turning towards the coach to consult the former on the plan for today's match.

On the other side of the gym where the Ryonan players were stationed, Aida Hikoichi swallowed nervously. Now he could only hope he would not be seen making a fool out of himself like how Sakuragi did when he was first asked to enter the court…

"Hikoichi, relaxed…don't be so stiff, loosen up a bit." A slap on his back jolted the teen out from his stupor mode.

"Exactly, remember what the coach says about today's match? Win or lose doesn't matters, his main motive was to test out different tactics and tried out different formation for the team." Uekusa, the humble third year member of the Ryonan team told Hikoichi calmly.

"Yeah, I know…but I just can't help being nervous, Uekusa-sempai." Hikoichi admitted.

"…If it helps, just treat it as though today's match was just another typical practice match with our internal members. Disregard the notion that they are outsiders, perhaps you could perform better with that mindset." Koshino Hiroaki interjected from his position behind Uekusa; he was just about to pull his hair out from dealing with their captain's lateness to the match. Apparently, Sendoh had gone fishing this morning and near forgot about today's match again…

"Where's Sendoh?" Hikoichi finally snapped out from his own nervous wreck condition, and found it in him to ask.

"Where else do you think he's off to? No doubt that he will be late again…" Koshino Hiroaki stated flatly, he had long given up on the notion of being aggravated by his friend's tendency to be late for non-official match.

"…" The trio then sneak a glance over to where their coach had been seated, and was seen tapping his feet against the flooring of the school's gym in unbidden agitation.

Ten minutes before the match commenced, both teams had their players gathered around for the final briefing talk. Seeing as a certain spiky-haired teen by the name of Sendoh Akira had yet to arrive for the match, coach Taoka decided to send Matsuyama Hideaki up onto the court with Koshino, Fukuda, Uekusa and Hikoichi.

"Uekusa, be sure to look out for Hikoichi…guide him along as the game progressed on." Coach Taoka told the third year point-guard of his team, and then he started to brief them on the defense formation to take on against Shohoku for the first ten minutes of the match.

On the other side of the gym, one Sakuragi Hanamichi was forced to stay out from the match for the time-being. Apparently, Coach Anzai does not wants him to over-strain himself on the court for this unofficial game and once again, using the excuse of him being the secret weapon to placate him. One year ago, he might be jumping up in joy at such a ridiculous excuse but now…he only felt the urge to roll his eyes. Oh sure, he was the secret weapon alright… but that is because the coach wanted to fool the opponent into thinking that he had still yet to recover from his back injury completely and hence the reason behind his unable to play in the game. And then the coach will send him up onto the courts, once the opponent's guards were down.

Either way, he kept his silence and obey his coach words without too big of a reaction other than the gleeful stupid grin he had purposely shown to the others. Stupidity was a trademark of his, and he had made quite a name for himself by behaving stupidly on the court… while the idea of being stupid was not all that great, since he would have to live with his team-mates' sarcastic remarks that way. He figured that was what the audience wanted to see aside from the game itself judging from the past experience, to quote what his boyfriend had always said – he brings joy to the game with his idiotic stunts, and being a comedian in action. Ultimately, it was his idiotic behavior that loosens up the tensions on the court and not to forget, it distracted the opponent's judgment of their team's strength.

Apparently, his idiotic behavior often caused the opponents' team to misjudge their capability and once their opponent teams looked down upon them. It was their opportunity to score big-time by making use of the way their opponent was not taking them seriously. Of course, this would have work against new opponents but teams like Kainan and Shoyo would never dared to look down on them again, cause they have already learn their lessons well.

Shohoku sends out their three third year's members, together with Rukawa Kaede and their highest first year members for the first ten minutes of the match. Seeing as Shohoku's typical playing style was the gun and run approach, and they have a tendency to opt for man to man defense play. Kakuta Satoru, being the tallest members of the team standing at a height of 192cm was required to jump ball at Sakuragi's absence.

This was his first attempt at jumping ball in a high school game, mainly because in the past even when he had been send out on a game…the center position was being held by their ex-captain, Akagi. Thankfully though, his position on his Junior High team was also center due to his height reason and hence he could still remember the proper procedure for this portion of the game.

He took chance of the fact that the center player for Ryonan High was a first year and was just as inexperienced as he was in this aspect of the game and hit the ball hard sending it all the way across to the opposing party's section of the court. Kakuta Satoru knew, Rukawa Kaede would be able to catch up to the ball and sending it straight into the hoop of their opponent's. Besides, with Sendoh Akira being absent on Ryonan's team right now…there was nothing else that stood in the raven haired teen's way of scoring his first point for Shohoku.

Not even one minute into the match, Shohoku had already scored their first two points with a dunking move on Rukawa Kaede's part. If the Ryonan players had not been paying much attention earlier on, they are fully awake by now.

"Looks like the training camp he had attended as part of the 'All Japan' members did benefit him to a certain extent." Sendoh Akira piped up, nearly giving his coach a heart attack from the back.

"SENDOH…!" Coach Taoka gritted out in frustration, it was a good thing that he does not had any chronic heart disease if not…he would have died from heart attack by now. Sendoh Akira was good in everything aside from his tendency to be late for matches, and also his tendency to scare the daylight out of him by creeping up from behind.

"Ah…good afternoon, coach." The spiky haired teen greeted good-naturedly causing his irate coach's eyebrow to twitch dangerously in response.

"Hurry up and do your warm up before I do something that I'll regret." Coach Taoka suppressed his urge to yell at his star player and gritted out instead.

"Okay…okay, no need to fret so much. There's still plenty of time to win back the points that we'd lose to Shohoku." Sendoh Akira placated, hoping that his coach would not be suffering from a stroke at this young of age. The man's face was a shade of beet red that it worries him that there might be a possibility of the said man bursting a vein in the brain vessels.

"Hikoichi, calm down…nobody expects you to be able to stop Rukawa Kaede up here. You already did your best, so the coach won't penalize you for your failure to prevent Rukawa Kaede from scoring." Uekusa comforted his junior, and Fukuda joined in the crowd by claiming that it was his fault to not have foresee Rukawa's actions since with Sendoh away from the court, it was now his responsibility to keep an eye out on the star player of Shohoku.

"That's right, Hikoichi…relax okay? Besides, the match has only just begun…there's still plenty of time for us to win against them. Besides, Sendoh has just arrived…I'm more than willing to bet that the coach will be substituting either Fukuda down with him in a while time." Koshino Hiroaki said as he passes the ball over to Uekusa, their point guard and get ready to launch their attack on Shohoku's court.

"Wow…Sakuragi, I'm proud of you." The sudden sound of Kogure Kiminobu's voice jarred the redhead out from his thoughts.

"Huh…? What do you mean…never mind that, why are you here…? Megane-kun…" Sakuragi Hanamichi amended once he managed to place the voice with a name.

"Of course I am here to watch the game, why else do you think I'm here for?" Kogure Kiminobu, otherwise dubbed as 'Megane-kun' by Sakuragi Hanamichi, responded matter-of-factly.

"I don't know…but aren't you supposed to be like busy with school work or something?" The redhead questioned back in return, seeing as the bespectacled ex-vice captain of their basketball ball team was currently a freshman in the Tokyo University Medical Faculty.

"Well, it won't kill to spare a few hours for some leisure purposes though."

"I supposed…" Sakuragi shrugged, turning his attention back to the game in progress.

Unknowingly, the interaction between Sakuragi and Kogure was being observed by the two managers of Shohoku Team. Ayako, who always seem to have a vibe for gossiping nature was mulling over the sudden change in the redhead's behavior towards one Rukawa Kaede. In the past, Sakuragi was always quite competitive when it comes down to the raven haired teen but over the recent months, the competitive natures between them seem to have changed somehow in one way or another.

Sakuragi, for one is more mature in dealing with the raven haired teen now. When was the last time Rukawa's insult of him being an 'idiot' gets on his nerves? Also, when did Sakuragi Hanamichi ever behaved so sensibly by not throwing a fit just because Rukawa scored points for the team without him doing the same thing?

True, they still enjoyed hurling insults towards one another every now and then, and were constantly on logger heads when it comes down to team-play. Still, there are little things that were different now as compared to before… for one, Sakuragi never bat another eyelid when Haruko paid more attention to Rukawa Kaede than to him.

If this was one year ago, the redhead would have reacted like an explosive grenade and went on to insult the raven haired teen as an attempt to attract the girl's attention to him. So what changes the redhead behavior towards Haruko Akagi? Did he grow up overnight…or has he already outgrown from his infatuation with the girl? Ayako could not help but wonder… luckily she did not voice her query aloud, for if not the younger brother of Fujima Kenji would have laugh aloud at her words.

Sendoh Akira joined in the game during the second session after the three minutes break, Hikoichi by then was begging to be sub out from the game but unfortunately, the coach seems adamant on having him remained on the court. This time around, Uekusa was substitute out instead leaving Hikoichi to play point guard. The scores now between Ryonan and Shohoku was fifteen to twelve with Shohoku in the lead by three point, after the first year Mikami Shuuhei scored his first free throw in the game.

"Hikoichi, snap out of it already. Foul acts are bound to occur on the court, remember how Sakuragi used to fare in a game? He never survived through the game without being fouled out during the first three months of his basketball matches." Sendoh urged, coaxing his junior out from the sense of guilt. It was true that his unnecessary foul had given Shohoku the opportunity to lead them by three points, but one must always remembered to learn from past mistakes. Tormenting one-self with the sense of guilt was never the correct way to solve the problem…

Besides, this was not an official match that will contribute to the final Inter-high records… if there was anytime to make mistakes and learn from it. This is the time to do so. Sendoh Akira truly believed.

Thankfully, once Sendoh entered the court and join the ongoing game…Hikoichi's panicky state had stabilized. In no time, Ryonan under the lead of the spiky haired teen had caught up with Shohoku smoothly. By the time half-time approached, Ryonan was in the lead with two points.

During half-time break, Coach Anzai did a swap of members layout by substituting Yasuda Yasuharu and Kakuta Satoru with the younger brother of one infamous Fujima Kenji of Shoyo, and of course the newly recovered Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"Sakuragi, remember the importance of team-play. The same applies to you too, Rukawa." Coach Anzai reminded before sending them both onto the court.

"…" The redhead and the raven haired teen eyed one another from the corner of the eyes in silence, while the rest of the players looked on in anticipation. The two of them always had a habit of insulting one another on and off the court, and sometimes pulling punches on one another too. Luckily though, Sakuragi had decided to let Rukawa's insult of him being an idiot slide for now and directed his energy and focus onto the game instead.

"Looks like Sakuragi had indeed grown up over the past few months while he's in rehabilitation." Kogure Kiminobu commented from his position behind the coach.

'Well…it sure seems that way, but I wonder how long it'll last.' Ayako thought, her eyes never leaving the court for long.

Date started: 5/3/2013

Date completed: 11/3/2013

P.S: Sorry for cutting it off down here, but well the next few portions my mind is not working with me…so I'll just have the muses' stew it out and put it in the next chapter. For now, please make do with this…and kindly review, okay?


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Glorious Moments

Fandom: Slam Dunk

Genre: General/Comedy/Slight Romance/Friendship

Rating: T

Time-line: After Nationals in the series, when the third years graduate...

Summary: After Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui left the team - what would happen to the Shohoku Basketball Club? Will Miyagi be able to lead them to Nationals again? What of the other schools? What happened to Shoyo, Ryonan, and Kainan?

Author's notes: I'll try to have weekly update… if possible…

Disclaimer: **No, I do not own Slam Dunk.**

Chapter 6 – Ryonan Vs Shohoku, Part 2

The second half of the Ryonan Vs Shohoku practice match started off quite uneventfully, with Kakuta Satoru being substituted out by Sakuragi Hanamichi. If anyone was expecting the redhead to make a fool of himself upon his entry onto the court, they were solely disappointed to see the redhead coping quite well. There was no hesitation on the redhead part, and the former body movements are still quite smooth and agile. It certainly doesn't look like this is the first time in six months that the redhead was playing in an actual game.

Sendoh Akira shook his head to rid his initial decision out from his mind, for a while he had almost forgotten that one cannot expect a certain redhead to play by normal standards. Sakuragi Hanamichi was one wild card on the court, the normal prediction of opponents' movements and actions could not be taken into consideration when it comes down to the redhead of Shohoku's team. Reason being, Sakuragi Hanamichi was anything but an ordinary player…

Matsuyama Hideaki, the first year member of Ryonan Team who is playing the position of Center was instructed specifically to keep a watchful eye out for Sakuragi Hanamichi's actions on the court by the spiky haired teen. Sendoh Akira then proceeds to inform his friend Koshino Hiroaki to assist Hikoichi in watching out for the point guard cum captain of Shohoku team while he would concentrate on Rukawa Kaede.

"Fukuda, your responsibility is to keep a lookout on the two first years on their team." Sendoh Akira instructed.

"Sendoh, I beg to differ. Matsuyama is still a rookie here, and despite the fact that Sakuragi had a period of six months absence from the court. I still believe I would be the most suitable candidate to mark him." Fukuda Kicchou spoke up.

"I can see your point, but our formation would be disrupted if we go according to your inclination." Sendoh Akira pointed out objectively.

"Yes, but it shouldn't matters much if we opted to use the same tactic Shohoku preferred by taking up the man to man approach." Fukuda interjected.

"I see…" Sendoh pondered over Fukuda's words for a short period of time before nodding grudgingly to the teen's suggestion, without Ikeda around to support the team's defense…the usual 1-1-3 formation might not work that well as compared to the year before. Since that would be the ultimate outcome, he doesn't see any harm in trying out the tactic which Shohoku had a tendency to pick for all of their matches. One thing that was common knowledge between all the high school basketball realm was that Shohoku doesn't have much of the defensive play, they relied on the typical 'man to man' marking ploy or to attempt 'Full Court Press' as a last resort.

"Alright, guys… we shall go with Fukuda's suggestion. He would be in charge of marking Sakuragi Hanamichi; I'll focus on Rukawa Kaede. However, I would assist in the defense play whenever possible. Hiroaki, my previous instruction for you to assist Hikoichi still stands…he's far too inexperienced as compared to Miyagi Ryota. Please kindly remember that he could be considered as the top notch point guard in our prefecture now that Fujima Kenji of Shoyo and Maki Shinichi of Kainan had graduated. Matsuyama, I'll leave the two first years of Shohoku to your capable hands… just do your best and you'll be fine. Now, dispersed and spread yourselves out!" Sendoh ordered.

The Shohoku members in the meantime discussed among themselves on their responsibility on the courts, it was expected for Rukawa Kaede to mark Sendoh Akira. The question lies actually in the roles of the other members.

"Ryo-chin, can I say something?" The redhead, Sakuragi Hanamichi, suddenly spoke up after he chanced a glance over to the Ryonan's side of the court.

"Yes…?" Miyagi Ryota looked up at the self-claimed prodigy with an inquiring look.

"I would suggest for Fujima to mark Hikoichi, and leave the other freshman of Ryonan to our capable Shuu-chan." Sakuragi suggested.

"…" The first year center forward, Mikami Shuuhei, sweat dropped at his new 'nick-name' that came forth from the redhead's lips. Still, he voiced his agreement to the redhead's words claiming to say that he had had some personal score to settle with the center player of Ryonan team.

With that, the Shohoku players dispersed out and headed for their respective opponent to 'take care' of. Aida Hikoichi of Ryonan gulped nervously when he recognized the person in charge of 'marking' him being the younger brother of Fujima Kenji. Despite his rational mind reminding him conscientiously that Fujima Renji may not possessed his elder brother's skills or at least, not to the elder teen's level… he still felt unsettled by the teen's presence.

"Yo! Fukuda, I hoped you didn't miss me too much." Sakuragi greeted cheerfully as soon as he entered the court, his words successfully getting everyone's attention onto him.

Fukuda Kicchou's reaction was one that's standing in between the idea of frowning and rolling his eyes. Eventually, the Ryonan's third year settled for the latter option after letting out a snort in response.

"Still an idiot, I see."

Sakuragi, this time, did not rise to the former bait of addressing him as an idiot. The redhead knew, his idiotic image was already well-known on a National level and he had to admit he rather enjoyed the attention he attracted while being an idiot on court. If his idiotic acts could help to unwind the stress mounting in the members' of his team, then why bothers changing?

"Idiot or not, it would be best not to discount my abilities based on that sheer fact alone." Sakuragi throws back at Fukuda, looking unfazed.

"If you think you can get pass me with ease this time around, you are solely mistaken. I am not the same person you'd faced in the last Inter-High match." Fukuda retorted in response, glaring daggers at the still grinning redhead of Shohoku.

The sound of the whistle from the referee informed them all that it was time to restart the game officially. Both team members then hurried to their respective positions as the center player of both teams position themselves to jump ball, kicking off the second half of the game. This is only Sakuragi's second attempt at jumping ball, the first time around was during the Kainan match in the last inter-high tournament when Akagi had the misfortune to sprain his ankle.

"Are you sure it's wise to stand around here watching out for me?" Sakuragi baited, so far the ball was nowhere near his reach and he inwardly cheered as Fujima Renji managed to bypass Hikoichi's defense and scored.

Fukuda Kicchou, despite his short temper trait, refused to let him-self rise to the bait. The coach had said before, this practice match was not one that concern the result of the game but was one to let them know their own weakness before the official inter-high tournament comes their way.

'Looks like Fukuda's patience had increased a great deal…' Sakuragi thought, keeping his head cool as well.

Meanwhile, over at Fujima Renji's side…he was getting bored. The opponent who was supposed to be watching him, the second year named Aida Hikoichi, he believed was being too careful. Being careful during a game is one good thing, but overly cautious is another case. Overly cautious is what his opponent was doing right now, and that makes it easier for him to bypass the former defense move. He may be the younger brother of one Fujima Kenji whom was quite famous in the high school basketball realm, but the main point here was that he was NOT his brother. Needless to say, his current position was not the point guard either.

"Hikoichi-san, I would appreciate it if you stop glancing about the surrounding. I'm playing a shooting guard now, not a point guard." Fujima Renji eventually started, calling out for his opponent's attention.

"Huh…? What do you mean?" Hikoichi asked stupidly.

"…" Fujima Renji gave up, and instead dribbles the ball back two steps and shoots the ball from just behind the three pointer line. Aida Hikoichi reacted a moment too late, and all he could do was to watch in silent anticipation as the ball headed for the hoop in mid-air.

"Matsuyama, prepare for rebound." Koshino Hiroaki ordered.

The Shohoku players meanwhile appeared to be unfazed, no one even bothers to stand position and wait for the best chance to do a rebound. Seeing as Sakuragi had won himself the name of 'Rebound King' during the last inter-high tournament against Shoyo Team, Fukuda Kicchou dare not let his guards down and focus all his attention on Sakuragi. Unfortunately for him, the redhead did not even bother to prepare for the rebounding chance. Not that there was any need to, because the ball went through the hoop safely, winning Shohoku their first three pointer shoot.

"Good job!" Sakuragi called out to Fujima Renji, getting a quick nod of acknowledgement in response.

Now it was Ryonan's turn to possess the ball, and soon Sendoh return the gesture and win back two points for his team in order to balance out the score which Shohoku had been leading from before. As the game progress on, the score between the two teams were kept between a one point differences. Whenever Sendoh scored, either Rukawa or Fujima of Shohoku would return the favor and score in another two or three pointer.

Throughout the game, Sakuragi was keeping by his promise to not over-strain himself and did not really performed any precarious stunts on the court. Instead, he occupied himself readily with the task of keeping Fukuda's attention focused on him and whenever the ball reaches him…instead of launching an attack, taking on his opponent heads on, he would pass the ball out at the first chance he got. The game eventually ended with Shohoku leading by one point, 76 VS 77.

Half the winning points in the game were scored by Rukawa's attack on Ryonan's before Sendoh entered the game, and the remaining point was spread evenly between Fujima Renji and Mikami Shuuhei. The Captain of Shohoku, Miyagi Ryota, had his fair score in scoring too. Granted, he only had taken two shots in the game itself, but the main thing is he had once again proven his worth on the court and within the restricted zone that his short height matters not in the game.

Twice when Fukuda had the chance to shoot, Sakuragi had managed to trick the former into losing focus and ended up missing the goal. Both times, the rebound was caught by Rukawa Kaede, and then launched an immediate attack on Ryonan's side of the court swiftly and efficiently.

After the match, Aida Hikoichi was feeling exceptionally nervous. Ryonan did after all lose the game, and half the time it was his 'retarded' reaction on the court that resulted in the ultimate results now recorded on the score board. For that reason alone, it was enough to put him on the jittery side. His recent recurring nightmare of the so-called 'punishments' received from one Sendoh Akira doesn't help to ease him either, if anything it contributed more to his anxiety state.

Miyagi Ryota, Captain of the Shohoku Team, on the other hand was quite satisfied with the game result. Granted, they had only managed to win by a margin of one point, it still does not change the fact that they won the game. Still, it does not give them valid reasons to slack nor does it mean that they are better than Ryonan. It was apparent that Ryonan was using this particular practice match as a training ground for their new members, the only way for members to gain experience was to play more games. And a practice match like today is the best avenue to achieve that particular aim because regardless of the ultimate game results it would not be taken into the official record account.

"Ayako-chan, you do have the record for the game down, right?" Miyagi started, calling out to his girlfriend's attention while he was packing up his belongings.

"Of course, it's all recorded in the scorebook already." The curly-haired team manager responded, waving the scorebook in the air as she emphasized her point.

"Good!"

No sooner had Coach Anzai of Shohoku approached Coach Taoka of Ryonan for a quick word of appreciation for the 'game', the Shohoku members were ready to head back to school for a debriefing session of today's practice game.

Date started: 12/3/2013

Date completed: 19/3/2013

P.S: Sorry for the lack of 'actions' in the game, I'm actually not very good at describing game progress. You guys would just have to make do with it…


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